Dr. Stockland joined Rapid City Medical Center in 2024, moving her two daughters across the state to return to where she did her residency.
Dr. Stockland enjoys healthcare from pediatrics to geriatrics, with a special interest in women’s health and wellness.
Rocio Diaz, M.D.
Dr. Rocio Diaz is a fellowship-trained retina specialist, specializing in medical and surgical retina, as well as a board-certified ophthalmologist. Dr. Diaz is fluent in English and Spanish. She was born and raised in Panama City, Panama, where she obtained her medical degree, becoming the first physician in her family.
Following her work as a research fellow, Dr. Diaz completed her Ophthalmology residency at the Hamilton Eye Institute, in Memphis, TN. She then moved to Omaha, NE to train as a retina fellow at the Truhlsen Eye Institute, University of Nebraska Medical Center. After completing her fellowship, she moved to Medford, OR and worked for three years at the prestigious Retina Care Center, a well-known referral center for southern Oregon and northern California.
While Dr. Diaz practices a full spectrum of retinal conditions, her interests include diagnosis and treatment of age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, macular edema, vitreous floaters, epiretinal membranes, macular holes, retinal tears and retinal detachments.
Dr. Diaz moved to Rapid City during the summer of 2023 to join her family. Her husband, Dr. Colin Brown, is a LASIK, cataract and cornea specialist at Wright Vision Center. They are blessed with a beautiful baby girl, and they enjoy their free time exploring the Black Hills, and spending time with their family and friends. Dr. Diaz loves stand-up comedy, cooking, and she is an amateur gardener and bird watcher.
Dr. Christensen is married and has four kids. Outside of the office, he enjoys fly fishing, college football, board games, and exploring the Black Hills with his wife and kids.
Born and raised in Rapid City, Dr. Sears graduated with a bachelor of science from the University of Notre Dame and then went to the University of South Dakota’s Sanford School of Medicine. She completed residency training at the Rapid City Regional Health Family Medicine Residency program. She has practiced family medicine in Rapid City for over thirteen years.
Dr. Sears has been married for over 16 years and has four children who keep her very busy. She enjoys watching them play and participate in the activities they love. When she’s not following her children’s activities, she likes to spend time at her cabin in the Black Hills.
What she loves about Urgent Care is the fast paced opportunity to care for patients of all ages.
Dr. Sears’s individual practice philosophy is that health is not a number or a statistic that needs to be achieved. It is individual to each patient. The first step to achieving a healthier lifestyle is a commitment to work on all aspects of ourselves. She strives to partner with her patients to help them set new health goals and works with them to achieve them.
Dr. Rafferty was raised in Sturgis, South Dakota, and attended medical school at the University of South Dakota. He completed residency training at the Regional Hospital Family Medicine Residency Program.
He has been in urgent care since 2009 and enjoys the fast pace and variety of conditions that patients bring to the urgent care environment. Outside of work, he enjoys any type of outdoor activity, including rock climbing, skiing, mountain biking and fly fishing.
Married for over thirty years, Dr. Rafferty’s wife Mary bravely fought cancer and left behind a legacy of five children and three grandchildren.
Dr. Jennifer May grew up in Rapid City, where she graduated from Stevens High School and completed undergraduate education at Augustana University. She received MD at the University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine. She completed her Internal Medicine residency at the Medical College of Wisconsin, and finished training with a Fellowship in Rheumatology at Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minnesota. In 2005, Dr. May moved back to Rapid City, bringing her husband, an Emergency Medical Provider, along. She was appointed to serve on the State Medical Board by Governor Daugaard and served one term. Her three daughters are active in tennis and the Suzuki program. Musical dedication and talent is shared by the family, as Dr. May plays viola in the Black Hills Symphony Orchestra and French horn in the Municipal Band.
Dr. May has been featured on the On Call television program and is a Board Member for the Healing Words Foundation as well as the South Dakota State Medical Foundation. Whether you’re local to Rapid City or from the extended area, Dr. May cares about ensuring your wellness and looks to be an integral part of your comprehensive care. Her areas of practice and interest extend from Rheumatoid Arthritis, to Lupus, to Osteoporosis, Gout, and Osteoarthritis.
As a podiatrist practicing in Rapid City, Dr. Ryder treats a variety of ailments that affect the feet. She focuses on primary podiatric medicine and forefoot surgery.
She received her undergraduate degree from Wheeling Jesuit University in Wheeling, West Virginia and her podiatric medical degree from Kent State University College of Podiatric Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio. Her residencies were completed at Brea Community Hospital and White Memorial Medical Center in Los Angeles.
Dr. Ryder is originally from Ohio and came to the Black Hills in 2001 when her husband, then an Air Force attorney, was stationed at Ellsworth Air Force Base. They grew to love the friendly community and natural beauty and decided to settle here in 2004 and build her podiatry practice.
When she is not in the clinic you can find her snow skiing or bike riding with her husband and five children. She loves to travel with her family and enjoys Peloton cycling and yoga.
Dr. Kimberly Hushagen is a board-certified pediatrician, born and raised in small town North Dakota. She completed medical school at the University of North Dakota and went on to complete her pediatrics residency at Penn State in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The large academic center provided a wide breadth of knowledge in acute and complex pediatrics. She returned back to the Midwest with her husband (also a physician at RCMC) and their young son to make South Dakota their forever home. They are expanding their family in fall 2023 with a second baby boy.
Dr. Hushagen’s favorite part of pediatrics is watching her patients and their families grow and learn. She has a special interest in first time parents and breastfeeding support, being a mom herself. She strives to connect with patients at every age, especially teenagers, to start lifelong health goals and improve mental health.
When not at work, you may see Dr. Hushagen and her family at Rapid City Rush hockey games, working on their hobby farm, or spending time with friends and family playing games of all varieties.
Dr. Hartford completed optometric training at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon, and his undergraduate degree is from South Dakota State University.
He has been an optometrist in Rapid City for 32 years, twenty-four of which have been at Rapid City Medical Center. He has enjoyed working closely with the many specialty physicians at the Medical Center where there is a genuine feeling of “one-stop shopping.”
When not at work, he enjoys attending his kids’ many activities, camping, fishing, hunting, and boating.
Dr. Linquist grew up in Sturgis, South Dakota, and received her undergraduate degree from Black Hills State University before attending medical school at the University of South Dakota. She completed residency training in ophthalmology at the University of Kansas. She joined Rapid City Medical Center in 2013 and is proud to serve the Black Hills Community.
Practicing general ophthalmology allows her to treat a wide variety of disorders affecting the eyes including glaucoma, retinal disorders, cataract surgeries and eyelid surgeries, among other conditions. The thing she enjoys most about practicing medicine is establishing relationships and continuing care with her patients.
She loves being outside in her spare time. She enjoys running, snowmobiling, camping and spending time with her family and dogs—she has two Weimaraners.